Adam Barringer sarcastically shook rookie officer's hand while telling him, 'I just want to thank you for being a p - - - k'

Headline Surfer photo by Serfina Frederick / New Smyrna Beach Mayor Adam Barringer, shown between his wife, Shannon Sumner and City Commissioner Jason McGuirk, aboard a city firetruck during the annual Christmas parade, had some choice words for a rookie cop when he was stopped from trying to cut through a closed side street to beat the traffic after the parade. PARADE VIDEO BELOW...

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- Is the city's mayor above the law? 

That's the rhetorical question going around as news spreads regarding Mayor Adam Barringer's treatment of a rookie cop that included a reference to him as a sexual part of the male anatomy when he wasn't allowed to cut through a barricaded side street following the city's Christmas parade.

The head of the police union said the mayor needs to make amends for the utter disrespect he showed officer Ralph Hunnefeld by uttering an obscenity at him for just doing his job. 

"I think the mayor's comments showed a poor choice of words," said Bob Walker, business agent for Teamsters Local 385, who represents 38 New Smyrna Beach officers  "I think he owes the officer an apology at the very least."

"I think the mayor's comments showed a poor choice of words," said Bob Walker, business agent for Teamsters Local 385, who represents 38 New Smyrna Beach officers  "I think he owes the officer an apology at the very least."

Walker, who also represents law officers with the Volusia County Sheriff's Office as well as cops with Daytona Beach, DeLand, Ponce Inlet, Longwood, Winter Park and the Osceola County Corrections, said he couldn't recall such an incident like this, even in his 20 years with the Daytona Beach PD where he worked homicides. 

"This kind of thing makes the (NSB) officers wonder if they are appreciated at a higher level," Walker added.

Suffice to say, Barringer's behavior towards the rookie cop has drawn the ire of his brother officers.

"I would have expected much more professional conduct out of the leader of this city, who obviously knows the officers are its employees," a veteran policeman told Headline Surfer tonight, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal from city hall administration.

"If it had been the other way around, I'm sure the employee would have been written up for insubordinate conduct," the veteran cop added. "The mayor has to realize that mutual respect works both ways."

Barringer, who earlier during the parade was on top of a city fire truck with other city officials and his wife, and waving to the masses while wearing a Christmas stocking hat, was looking for a quick way out of the traffic once it was over. He tried to drive onto Atlantic from Flagler, which was blocked to thruway traffic. That's when he was waved off by the rookie cop Hunnefeld, leading to Barringer's confrontation with him.

Barringer, who earlier during the parade was on top of a city fire truck with other city officials and his wife, and waving to the masses while wearing a Christmas stocking hat, was looking for a quick way out of the traffic once it was over. He tried to drive onto Atlantic from Flagler, which was blocked to thruway traffic. That's when he was waved off by the rookie cop Hunnefeld, leading to Barringer's confrontation with him.

The officer, new to the force, didn't recognize at the first who Barringer was, but after describing him and his vehicle to other officers and verifying it was the mayor, he documented the incident. Headline Surfer has sent the city a public records request for a copy of the incident report.

Barringer has not returned messages for comment.

Headline Surfer video by Multimedia Editor Serafina Frederick / Here are our highlights of the New Smyrna Beach Christmas Parade as shown along Canal Street.